Preseason forecasts revisited

Nextel Cup made the turn into the second half of the season Sunday with the race at Chicagoland. So it seems as good a time as any to revisit the 2007 preseason predictions I made the morning of the Daytona 500 back in February.

The jury still is out on my call that the Car of Tomorrow will be a hit with racing fans. Half of the 16 COT races remain, including five in the Chase. But we do have some benchmarks, to borrow a term from the president, on the other prognostications.

Concerning the Chase, my forecast that Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch will make the final 12 isn't looking so good. But, as of today, I'm on the money for the other 10: Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Picking Tony Stewart to win the Daytona 500 didn't work out so well. But who knew he and Kurt Busch would start a fender-banging friendship there that culminated in Busch nearly running over Tony Stewart's tire-changer at Dover?

It looks like picking David Ragan to beat Juan Pablo Montoya for Rookie of the Year might be off the mark as well.

And while I guessed that Montoya wouldn't win a Cup race until 2008, I hedged by saying he might sneak a win on one of the two road races. He did exactly that at Sonoma.

Predicting that Toyota won't win a race this year doesn't make me a genius. These days it's more a question of whether Toyota will qualify.

Kasey Kahne has indeed suffered more as a result of the 50-point penalty NASCAR laid on him at Daytona than has Kenseth. I'm not going to pat myself on the back for that one, either. No Dodge driver is in position to make the Chase at the moment.

My crystal ball was perfectly clear when I said that there was no way Hamlin would suffer a sophomore slump. And, as I said in February, it won't be a shock if he wins the title.

Back then, I forecasted an epic Ali-Frazier-type duel between Johnson and Tony Stewart for the Cup title. That could still happen, but I'd amend that now if given the chance. Jeff Gordon never seems to have a down week and he's good at an awful lot of those Chase tracks.

Thank God I didn't venture an opinion on how Dale Junior's negotiations at DEI would turn out. I mean, seriously, if I'd have ever suggested that Junior and Jeff Gordon were on the verge of becoming teammates, you Earnhardt lovers would have had me hauled away by men in white coats.

VMS TONIGHT

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series makes a return appearance tonight for another $10,000-to-win 50-lap feature. Shannon Babb won big bucks when the series stopped at Virginia Motor Speedway in April, edging Shane Clanton in a race that later aired on the Speed Channel.

Tonight's race will not be televised, but will nonetheless draw the series' cream of the crop. Kentuckian Steve Francis enters the race with a 10-point lead over Chub Frank of Pennsylvania.

"We are very excited to have the World of Outlaws competitors back," VMS General Manager Clarke Sawyer said. "They always put on an exciting show for our fans and I expect nothing less (tonight)."

Ticket prices are: $22 adults, $20 senior and military, $10 students 13-17, $5 children 7-12, free for children 6-and-under. Other races on the card: Late Model 35, Sportsman 30, Modified 25.

LANGLEY SPEEDWAY

Greg Edwards grabbed his first win this season at South Boston Speedway in a 150-lap feature. He finished 12.946 seconds ahead of runner-up Eddie Johnson.

Edwards splits his time between South Boston and Langley Speedway, where he has three victories this season.

He trails Phillip Morris of Motor Mile Speedway in Radford 512-462 in NASCAR's latest state championship standings. Danny Edwards Jr., Greg's brother, is third at 438.

Greg Edwards will race at Langley on Saturday in the 75-lap Late Model feature. Other races on the card: Modified 50, Super Street 50, Super Truck 25 and Wolf Truck 25. ?

See more at www.dailypress.com